A bill that would allow non-physician practitioners to sign off on home health certifications is gaining traction again.
 
In a March 26 editorial in the St. John Valley Times, Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, says: “I will soon be reintroducing the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act to allow advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants to order home health services for their Medicare patients.”
 
The bill was first introduced in 2009 and has been reintroduced several times since. However, Collins argues that making it easier for patients to access home health care could supply the Medicare cost savings Congress currently is looking for.
 
“It costs Medicare almost $2,000 per day for a typical hospital stay, and $559 per day for a typical nursing home stay. How much does Medicare pay for home care? Just $44 a day,” she notes.
 
Those statistics also mean its “troubling” that both the Affordable Care Act and CMS have cut into home health reimbursement in recent years, she adds.